A cat belongs in the water. And, Irie is a cat! For the first time in years, she rested on the hard for three months. Mark, our dog Darwin and I were called to the United States for such a long period, because the family needed us. It was tough for us to just leave everything behind: boat (= home), privacy, Caribbean weather, all our belongings, friends and freedom. During the height of hurricane season! This meant that we had to totally strip Irie down to the bones, so nothing could break or fly off, just in case... She was so naked, she barely looked like a boat anymore…
Once Mark and I returned to Grenada, we worked full time for over a week to get her back in shape and lookin’ good. On the outside. Her bottom - normally under the water surface – looks sparkling blue. A delight when we snorkel around. Hopefully the critters will stay away for a while. We also worked on a few other immediate problems, taking advantage of her being out of the water. One of our successes was to install a keel cooler for our refrigerator. Now we are done with cleaning the filter every other week and having to replace the hoses and fix the pump every so often, because the salt water that went through it (our fridge was water cooled before) attracted barnacles.
The big day arrived and Irie was lifted off her blocks, into a Marine Travelift with four straps under her belly. This machine drove her slowly and carefully back to the bay, while she kept rocking back and forth, left and right. There she was lowered. Mark and I chased the remaining frogs off, managed to keep most of the (hidden) mosquitoes for just a few more sleepless nights, parted with the equivalent of USD 2000, tested the thru hulls and started the engines with a little bit of a sputter. Off we sailed… into the sunset. Well, not yet, it was noon, but we breathed the sea air and found a nice spot to anchor in a bay further west.
In the boat yard, we focused on the necessary work to get “splashed” again. Of course there was still a lot to do to get Irie back in shape. What got stripped down had to be put back, from flags to wind generator blades. I hosted Mark up the mast to check everything out, the interior had to get cleaned, the systems double checked, a breaker needed replacement (hurray for the tons of boat parts we brought from the US), the batteries topped off and one of the steering cables broke and had to be fixed. Slowly but surely, we are returning to the normal cruising life, marking off things on the to-do-boat-list, spending days shopping for food, fuel and diesel, doing laundry and enjoying Happy Hours. The first time we jumped in the ocean for a shower, was pure joy! Now, it is time to go cruising and sailing again…
Liesbet